Hayata Kiriyama
Hayata Kiriyama (桐山 隼太 Kiriyama Hayata) is a third-year in junior high and the male lead of the series. Appearance Hayata is a handsome young man with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes, with a tall and toned physique. The first time Nanoka sees his face, she instantly blushes; the same happens to Yuuko when she meets him for the first time. According to Kensuke, despite looking cute and friendly, Hayata has incredible strength due to playing sports his whole life. Personality Hayata has a outwardly friendly personality which allows him to easily make friends every time he moves. This has often led to him being credited as being "too kind" by parties such as "Manager" and Nanoka Ayase, both of which love him for his kindness. Other characters such as Kensuke and Takato Uesugi have thought of his friendliness as a manner of him being nonthreatening; proving false later on. He has never fought for something like he did for Nanoka's love; claiming that he would always either give up or share whatever he had with his friends. Background Hayata has a history of moving from place-to-place every few years due to his parent's jobs. Due to this, he is prepared to move at any time, doesn't have very many mementos, and has become used to making new friends quickly. Hayata is often falsely assumed by other characters and even Nanoka to have siblings; however, he is an only child. His parents both work time-consuming jobs. Although he doesn't see them often, he has a good relationship with them. Due to his history, he doesn't get attached to anything. However, Nanoka is the one exception. Relationships [[Nanoka Ayase|'Nanoka Ayase']] Part 1 Hayata first meets Nanoka as he passes her in the streets and she suddenly confesses to him, much to his shock and confusion. The two meet up later as Hayata informs Nanoka that he just recently broke up with his ex and is not ready to date again. As Hayata's friends arrive and make assumptions, he lies on her behalf and Nanoka causes a scene, proclaiming that he should not lie about his feelings when she was the one rejected. The two struggle to see each other again but after about a week; they meet once more at Hayata's school and begin seeing each other. Hayata finds Nanoka to be mysterious and wants to know more about her. The two mainly communicate via phone calls on a daily basis since they do not attend the same school. They later attend a triple date with Nanoka's friends. However, they do not confirm their relationship status prior to the date, leading to misunderstandings if they are dating or not. After they reconcile, Nanoka talks about her past relationship and reveals that she likes Hayata. Nanoka’s confession leads to Hayata spacing out at school as he realizes that he has fallen in love with her as well. He becomes determined to confess to Nanoka at the summer festival, only to have a beaten and bruised Takato reveal that he and Nanoka recently kissed. This revelation causes Hayata to question if Nanoka ever stopped seeing Takato. From Hayata’s perspective of the situation, Nanoka crying over Takato makes it appear as if their relationship never ended. After the summer festival, Hayata begins to ignore Nanoka’s calls and becomes unfriendly at his club practice. After he quits his club, he accidentally answers Nanoka's call. Though he wants to end their relationship as he did with his ex-girlfriend, he cannot bring himself to do so. Nanoka searches for him after learning that he quit his club and that he heard about the kiss from Takato. Though she reveals the kiss was after she met Hayata, Nanoka does not tell him the full story that the kiss was forced on her. Hayata nearly kisses Nanoka by force after hearing this but stops himself, ashamed that he would be aggressive with her. A heartbroken Nanoka kisses him goodbye so that Hayata can resume his life like normal. The incident haunts Hayata, realizing that he was too late to save Nanoka twice and that there will always be a year gap between them. Despite this, he comes to terms that he is still in love with her and doesn't want to lose her to Takato. He later saves Nanoka from Takato's advances, confesses to her and they officially establish their relationship. Part 2 As they officially begin dating, they start seeing each other after school on a regular basis. However, Hayata later receives news that he will be moving to Houston for nearly 5 years because of his parent's jobs. He doesn't view it as anything major because he is used to it and when he tells Nanoka about it, she lashes out at him, pleading him not to leave her. After Hayata learns about Nanoka's situation at school, he realizes how inconsiderate his words and actions came off to her. He invites Nanoka to meet with him, not seeing each other since she lashed out, and he later invites her to his apartment. Nanoka comes to realize how Hayata's life is full of solitude as he is never able to stay in one place and subconsciously grabs onto him. Her actions prompt an anxious Hayata to ask if Takato is an ally to Nanoka and someone she can rely on even if he is not around. In the confusion, Nanoka states that Hayata is not acting like himself prompting him to ask her if she truly knows his real self. In emotional distress, Hayata pins Nanoka to his bed and passionately kisses her with Nanoka wondering how far he will go. Nanoka becomes overwhelmed and asks him to stop and Hayata admits it's his first time obsessing over something to the point of not wanting to let go. Nanoka then tells Hayata that compared to when Takato was aggressive with her, when Hayata did the same, she wasn't afraid and only feels that way with him. They reconfirm that their relationship is strong enough to handle distance while also establishing how they both make each other a better person. However, while their relationship stands strong, Takato and Ouji continue to interfere with them. This makes Hayata anxious, stating that if he fails to save Nanoka again that he will never forgive himself. Hayata later asks Nanoka at her school festival why she chose him over Takato. Nanoka tells him that she tried to like Takato when they dated but he was never looking at her; rather, the 'Nanoka' Takato loves only exists in his head. Hayata desperately tries to save Nanoka as Ouji attempts to jump off a ledge with her; grabbing onto him while heavily hurting his shoulder in the process. [[Takato Uesugi|'Takato Uesugi']] Part 1 Though Hayata and Takato are aware of each other's presence, the two rarely interact on a face-to-face basis. The first time Hayata meets Takato at the Karaoke bar, he isn't even aware that he just met Nanoka's ex-boyfriend. After Nanoka informs Hayata of her past relationship with Takato, he becomes curious and looks up a past yearbook album only to find how strained Nanoka and Takato's relationship appeared to be. He later encounters a beaten Takato at the fireworks festival, grabbing Nanoka, as Takato proclaims that he will always be the one to save Nanoka, not Hayata. Takato's interactions with Hayata are both hostile and condescending as he always tries to one-up Hayata. When Takato meets Hayata after Nanoka's tearful goodbye, a livid Takato slams Hayata against the wall, interrogating him only to have Hayata retaliate and nearly hit him before Kensuke stops the two. After Hayata saves Nanoka from Takato's harassment, the two do not encounter each other for quite a while. Part 2 When Nanoka is being bullied at school because of Takato's presence, Takato goes as far as to seek out Hayata for advice. Takato finds pleasure in knowing the Nanoka kept his transfer a secret only to find that Hayata is not fazed by his taunting. Hayata clearly reiterates that Takato cannot do what Hayata could for Nanoka as Takato is not him, and he never will be like him. However, he asks for Takato to protect Nanoka in his place since he does not attend the same school as her. While Takato keeps to his word at first, his intentions become malicious. Hayata quickly realizes that Takato's affections for Nanoka are dangerous and is shocked that Nanoka cannot sense it. After hearing about Takato's plans from Ouji, he breaks free of Ouji's capture and rushed to Nanoka but finds Takato instead. He punches Takato for trying to commit a double suicide with Nanoka, much to Takato's shock. The two then work together to save Nanoka from Ouji. Kensuke Hayata has high respect for Kensuke due to him being his former volleyball senior. Kensuke gives him words of encouragement after Hayata quits the volleyball team. However, when Kensuke tells Hayata not to push himself to win the volleyball match, Hayata snaps at him, stating that Kensuke never viewed them as a winning team much to Kensuke's shock. Kensuke later stops Hayata from hitting Takato after a fight breaks out between the two. The two later reconcile as Hayata comes to Kensuke for advice about Ouji and Takato. Ouji Karasuma The first time they meet, Hayata instantly puts his guard up as he sees Ouji glaring at Nanoka. Ouji later calls Hayata from an unknown number, mimicking his voice and telling him it is not fair for him to have Nanoka to himself. He later detains Hayata after having pawns knock him out so that Takato can carry out his plan of a double suicide. "Manager" She is the ex-girlfriend of Hayata. He broke up with her after she revealed she was seeing another guy. Although this was a set-up to provoke feelings of jealousy from Hayata, he never learns the truth. However, she is still in love with him. Hiroshi Hiroshi is a friend and teammate of Hayata. He knew Hayata during elementary school and invited him to join the volleyball team upon learning that Hayata transferred to his junior high. He helps the Manager to reschedule volleyball practice on the day of the summer festival so that Hayata cannot attend his date with Nanoka. He regrets his actions after learning the truth of why Hayata broke up with the manager. Quotes * (to Nanoka) "Everything will be fine! Because I attract the sun!" * (to himself) "I want to monopolize her..." * (to himself) "I want to become the type of person that believes only in the Ayase-san I know." * (to Takato) "You asked me what I would do. You are not me." * (to Nanoka) "Do you really think that you know my true self?" * (to Nanoka) "Ayase-san, I love you." * (to Nanoka) "To be able to tell each other our honest feelings, and to be able to feel the warmth of your hands in mine, I feel that we are one." Trivia * He does not tolerate infidelity. * He is noted by several characters to be very kind and friendly both thru his actions and words. * He transfers school every 2-3 years due to his parent's jobs. * He confesses that being with Nanoka is the first time he's felt attached to something that he refuses to give up. * He perceives Takato and Ouji as being hostile characters and is weary of them. References -